Opera House
Photo courtesy of KHA Archives - maintenance crew.
Known as The Opera House Hut, Canyon Camp or SMC Hydro Operations Hut.
Location
Opera House is in the most remote location in the Park, at the base of Lady Northcote Canyon. It is accessible with difficulty via a range of routes, including a rock scramble down the Sentinel Ridge, up a three mile tunnel from Siren Song and via a mighty scrub bash from Olsen's LO. It is also reachable via a very rough track from Siren Song, built by Army SAS in 1995, around the 1200m contour. The grid reference is 142721.
GPS Location: S36.387854 E 148.276335
Brief History
Opera House was built by the SMA in 1966, to manage water aqueducts running off the "Little Austria" area of the main range. It cost more per square foot to build, than the Sydney Opera House - hence the name.
It housed SMA hydrologists and maintenance workers. It was handed over by the SMA to the NPWS (and KHA in January 2002) and was open until it was burnt. NPWS consider it to be a significant asset as a survival shelter, especially considering the number of people now skiing "Little Austria".
Construction
Opera House is 5m by 4m with walls of concrete and granite facing.
The roof is iron, and the floor is concrete. There is an iron stove and flue and indoor toilet. Water is obtained from a tap on the aqueduct.
References
KHA 2412
KNP POM is L.96.